The Tale of the Old Forest
by Esensi
Summary: Two mischievous hobbits trespass in the Old Forest and stumble upon a mystery involving a rock and a rune. They discover that there is more significance to the rock than they first realized, and it may determine the future of the Ents.
1. The Hunt for Rocks

The birds twittered merrily from their perches in the branches of the nearly ancient trees in the Old Forest. The young Halfling knew it was perilous to be where he was, but he lived for such risks and adventure. He could imagine greater adventures that might interest him more than poking around in the forest, but this would have to suffice. The thick cover of the trees blocked the pale yellow sunlight and nurtured a very hushed and dim environment underneath the leafy ceiling, so quiet that he was able to hear his own breathing, which seemed deafening in the thick silence. Twigs cracked underneath his feet as he took lumbering, clumsy steps over the exposed roots and rocks.  
  
"Well, I don't see what's so dangerous about this old forest," the hobbit mused aloud, bending over in his journey to pick up a rock. He cradled it in the palm of his hand for a moment, examining the outside of it. The scant sunlight nonetheless caught faint glimmers of a sparkling substance hidden in the depths of the rock, time and weather joining as erosion to allow some of the internal beauty to begin to peek through.  
  
"Well, what have we here?" the hobbit murmured to himself, holding the rock aloft as he inspected it. He scratched his fingernail along the glittering part of the rock and it easily scraped off, revealing the dull grey stone underneath.  
  
"Oh, I've another like you at home!" he cried, and dashed the rock against the trunk of the nearest tree. It bounced off with an ominous thunk and skittered along the ground before it came to rest in a pile of leaves. A blanket of silence suddenly enveloped the forest, and the hobbit strained his ears at the sudden lack of sound in any direction.  
  
"Perhaps I'd best be…" His sentence trailed off as he gazed down the trail he had come from, or at least, the trail that used to be there. Thick trees rose to his right and left, and behind him as well, where there hadn't been any before. Or at least he thought there hadn't been. The only way left was forward, and so he resolved to go that way, the only way that was left to him. Picking his satchel from the ground, he hefted it over his shoulder and continued forward, the silence continuing to dominate the forest. But the traveling hobbit blocked it from his mind and stooped over the ground every once in a while in the search of a rare and eye- catching find. He was searching for rocks. Rocks of any shape and size, any color and weight (but of course only ones he could carry home) to stick into his satchel, the container that held a goodly portion of his collection.  
  
An oddly shaped rock caught his eye, and he moved his fingers along the ground to grasp it, bringing it to his eyes for closer inspection. It was a flat rock of no particular shape, but there was a letter, or figure, or something carved into the rock that was meant to be read, the Halfling deduced. Shrugging his shoulders, he stuck the rock into his satchel and straightened up, taking another step forward.  
  
He smacked right into the trunk of a tree.  
  
"Ouch!" He reeled backwards and brought his hand to his nose, rubbing the pain away. Glancing upwards, he regarded the tree skeptically.  
  
"Now I am certain that was not there before," he spoke aloud.  
  
"That is because I moved." An answer came over his shoulder. He spun around to face empty air, and trees, many trees.  
  
"Wh—who…what—who is that?" he stammered, reaching into his satchel for a fist sized rock.  
  
"What do you suppose?" came the reply.  
  
"Well, I," the hobbit said uncertainly, glancing quickly over his left and right shoulder. He turned back to the tree that blocked his path, and gulped. "I would suppose that I am talking to a tree, seeing as there is no one else around. But how did you…"  
  
"Yes?" the tree, or being, or someone, asked.  
  
"How did you…" the hobbit let his words trail off as he circled the trunk of the tree, checking for anyone hiding. "…move?"  
  
"How do you suppose I moved?" was the return.  
  
The hobbit began to feel cross. "Can't you answer anything straight? Well, can't you answer my questions with an answer instead of a question?"  
  
"That would mean I am answering your questions, but I only question your answers, do I not?"  
  
The hobbit began to feel confused. "If you are truly a tree, where is your mouth, and why can I hear you talk if you haven't any mouth?"  
  
"Do you see my mouth?"  
  
"Well, no, but—well, that's why I asked!" the hobbit exclaimed, exasperated.  
  
"You may see my face if you like. Come around this tree to your left, the large oak with moss growing up the trunk. Yes, step closer, and you will see the truth."  
  
The hobbit took a cautious step forward, tightening his grip on the rock in his hand. He reached the tree, and carefully edged to the right, peering around the trunk.  
  
A laughing hobbit face reached his eyes. "Fooled you!" the hobbit announced victoriously, dropping down from her perch in the branches of the tree. The male hobbit stammered, completely flustered.  
  
"Ruby! What a cruel joke to play on me! Haven't you anything better to do than bother me? What are you doing here anyhow?"  
  
"Oh, it was just a joke, don't be difficult, Freddy. I didn't have anything to do at home, so I followed you, of course," she answered simply, her bright brown eyes scanning the satchel he carried. "Are you still collecting rocks? What a dull hobby. I don't see any point in it at all. What are you doing here, I should ask?" The average sized hobbit girl sat on a nearby boulder, her auburn curls bouncing as she took a seat.  
  
"Why don't you call me Fredgert like everyone else?" he asked to cover his embarrassment, sitting opposite her on a soft patch of moss.  
  
"Now who is answering questions with questions?" she laughed happily, laying her hands in her lap. "I don't call you Freddy because I can't stand the name. If I must choose between Fredgert Knotwise and Freddy Knotwise then I'm going to choose the least strange! Now whoever heard of a Fredgert?"  
  
"I have, because I happen to be a Fredgert, and I happen to think, Ruby Knotwise, that there are stranger names in Middle-Earth than mine, and you'd do well not to offend it while you're with me, or I may not enjoy your company any longer," he said pointedly, a look of hurt crossing over his face.  
  
"You have to enjoy my company, you're my cousin," she protested, but at the look on his face, she relented and slipped off the rock to sit next to him, placing an affectionate arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry, truly."  
  
"Really? What are you sorry for, then?" he pressed.  
  
"I'm sorry…for tricking you…" she struggled. "And I'm sorry that…your name is Fredgert!" She broke out into laughter, apparently amused with herself. Freddy shook his head in frustration and pulled his satchel into his lap.  
  
"What have you got there, Freddy? What have you found today?" She asked, seemingly genuinely interested. Freddy felt a faint pang of pride, and lifted the flap of his satchel, displaying his collection from the Old Forest.  
  
"Oh, look at this one!" she breathed, and pulled a small rock from the pile. Half of it had been cracked open, and inside was a multifaceted chunk of sparkling purple stone. She continued to sort through the rocks, Freddy giving a detailed explanation of each mineral she held. Finally, she stuck her hand into the satchel and pulled out the flat, grey, engraved stone.  
  
"What is this one?" she asked Freddy. He looked at it and ran his fingers over the smooth carving.  
  
"I just found it, I don't know, but there is something carved here, and I imagine it's supposed to be read."  
  
"Well, read it."  
  
Freddy's cheeks colored slightly. "I…don't recognize this—this rune."  
  
She glanced suspiciously at him. "Oh, Freddy…" she said as soon as it had dawned on her. "You can't read?"  
  
"I…well—" He blushed furiously in expectation of the laughter that would follow, but none came.  
  
"I don't recognize it either. Hang onto it for a little while, maybe we can find someone to read it."  
  
Ruby rose to her feet, and Freddy followed suit, stepping past the barrier trees back the way they had come. Soon, the sounds of their lively conversation replaced the absent chirping of the birds, occasionally dotted with fits of bubbly laughter.  
  
"It's a mystery, you know. How intriguing," Ruby commented. They had been speaking about the stone.  
  
"It is strange that it should be lying in the forest, just at my feet where I should find it. And what strange lettering. Do you suppose it's a message to someone, or a warning, or a call for help?" Freddy mused, adjusting the weight of the satchel on his shoulder.  
  
"If someone was in trouble, they took a long time to scratch a message into a rock. A tree, perhaps, though I'd be loath to scratch anything into these trees. I hear they bear ill will towards anyone who harms them. They know who has harmed trees before," Ruby said in a low voice, glancing around her at the trees stretching towards the sky. If she stared long enough, she imagined she could see one of the trees move, ever- so-slightly.  
  
"That's just a story for the children, Ruby. Just a story. Trees don't know, they can't feel, and they can't possibly talk," he added wryly.  
  
Ruby and Freddy both laughed as they continued walking. The sounds of their conversation muffled the faint rustle of a moving shadow that hovered near. 


	2. The Ambush

"I'm hungry. I think I could eat three whole suppers right about now," Ruby said wistfully, swinging her arms as she half-walked, half-skipped down the dirt road leading to Hobbiton. Once they had left the forest and were able to see the sky again, they had both let out relieved sighs, even though the golden sun heralded the coming of evening. Freddy could have sworn he left his home in the late morning, and he repeatedly expressed his distress at how quickly it had grown so late.  
  
"Now I'll never get all my chores done before sunset. Oh, I've wasted far too much time," he complained, kicking a loose rock across the path as he walked.  
  
Ruby's face suddenly lit up. "I'll go back with you and help you with your chores, and then we can examine that rock further. What do you say?"  
  
Freddy glanced at her suspiciously. "You'd miss your supper."  
  
"No, not at all! You'll fix it for us both, and Uncle Knotwise, of course."  
  
He began to protest, but she shushed him and held her arm out, gesturing for him to listen. The hobbits strained their ears but only heard the lethargic croaking of frogs and exultant trills of blissful birds.  
  
"What did you do that for?" Freddy asked, glancing behind and in front of them.  
  
"I thought I heard something," she said quietly. A rustle in the bushes off to their left prompted them to suddenly yank their heads in that direction.  
  
"I heard it, I heard it!" Freddy whispered sharply. Ruby grasped his arm tightly and stared into the deepening shadows of the wild foliage. A wild fern still waved back and forth at the recent passing of some silent watcher.  
  
"Go see what it is!" Ruby hissed in Freddy's ear. He could feel her trembling as she clung to him, nearly squeezing the blood from his arm. His arm began to throb, and he shook her loose.  
  
"Ouch! Not so tight!" he cried, and then lowered his voice. "I've heard stories like this, Ruby Knotwise, I'm not going to look! The one that looks ends up being, well, he ends up…" Freddy dragged his thumb across his throat and made a gurgling sound.  
  
"Just go see!" she urged, shoving him forward.  
  
"I don't want to! You go!" he whispered rather loudly.  
  
Ruby placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow with a condemning look in her eyes. "Freddy!"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"Fine, we'll both go," she whispered back.  
  
"Fine," he said. She tiptoed towards him and they both crept slowly towards the bushes. Closer and closer they edged towards the undergrowth, and Freddy extended a hand to pull back the bushes.  
  
A fuzzy shape leapt at Freddy and knocked him backwards onto the ground, and he faintly heard the shrill piercing of Ruby's scream. He cried out and raised his arms to cover his face as the assailant clawed at his chest. In the background, Ruby's screams evolved into amused laughter.  
  
"Oh, Freddy, it's just a dog!" she gushed, and knelt next to the hobbit's squirming form to pull the canine into her lap. The dog fidgeted happily and wagged its stumpy tail as it bathed Ruby's cheeks with its pink tongue. Freddy, chagrined, sat up and brushed dust from his tunic.  
  
"I knew it," he said, "it just surprised me, is all." He scooted closer to Ruby and patted the animal on its furry head. The dog looked up at Freddy with big brown eyes, its mouth hanging open as it panted. It was a veritable ball of energy as it wriggled in Ruby's lap, leaving paw prints on her once clean skirt. Freddy ran his hand through the dog's soft, sandy fur.  
  
"It looks to be almost all grown up, and not in need of food at all, though I bet a spot of supper would taste good to him," Freddy observed.  
  
"Yes, he's rather fat, isn't he? He must've escaped from his owner. I wonder how far he came." She smiled down at the dog, who responded by attempting to lick her mouth. "Let's take him along," she said, setting the dog on the ground and giving it one last pat.  
  
"Ruby, I don't…I don't know…Uncle's allergic, and…" Freddy said slowly.  
  
"Come along, you frisky dear!" Ruby called to the dog, her bare feet slapping against the earth as she darted down the road. The animal paused in its nasal exploration of the wonders of hobbit feet and let out a lively bark, trotting after the Halfling girl.  
  
"Ruby! Ruby, wait! I don't think this is such a good idea!" Freddy called, starting after her but stopping short to run back and pick up his satchel.  
  
"Ruby, slow down!" he panted.  
  
  
  
"Shh!"  
  
"I'm being as quiet as I can!"  
  
"Be quieter!"  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"It was the dog. Don't let him bark."  
  
"The door is open, go through. Uncle is in the library," Freddy said, pointing down the hall. Ruby, her arms wrapped around the hairy animal, tiptoed down the hallway towards the library and peeked around the corner. A figure with a head of curly grey hair sat rocking in a wooden chair by the fire, and the faint wisps of pipe smoke curled up towards the ceiling.  
  
"Go," she heard Freddy whisper behind her. She proceeded to creep past the library when the dog began to squirm furiously in her arms. With a low-pitched whine, the dog slipped from its perch and padded into the library, exploring the area behind the old hobbit's chair. Freddy let out a strangled cry and dashed after it, his foot slipping on the rug and sliding across the wooden floor, causing him to tumble headfirst into a towering stack of tomes with a thunderous crash.  
  
"Fredgert? Fredgert, is that you?" gasped the old hobbit.  
  
"Y-yes, it's me, Uncle," Freddy stammered painfully. He glanced quickly at the dog sniffing the ground and abruptly grabbed it around its chubby stomach, hiding it behind his back. His uncle turned around in his chair, the pipe sticking out from the corner of his mouth.  
  
"Bless you! You're back. I had expected you home earlier. How was your trip to market? Did you bring anything back?"  
  
"Well, I…yes…" Freddy stalled, struggling to hold the dog in place.  
  
With his grey eyebrows knitted in a frown, the elder hobbit examined his nephew.  
  
"What is that you're hiding?" he inquired, leaning forward.  
  
"Uncle!" shouted Ruby loudly, entering the library and flinging herself into the old hobbit's arms in a fierce embrace. Looking over her uncle's shoulder at Freddy, she glanced towards the doorway with her eyes, urging him to escape with the dog.  
  
The old hobbit smiled brightly, his brown eyes twinkling. "Ruby, my dear Ruby, it is always good to see you! And my, how you've grown!" he cried, holding Ruby at a distance to look at her. "Why, I haven't seen you in nearly two months. How are your father and my sister? How are your brothers and sisters?"  
  
"All wonderful, though rather busy with the preparations! It'll be my twentieth birthday soon, a surprise one, in fact," she replied, seeing Freddy creep away with the dog. The old hobbit's nose twitched and he looked as if about to sneeze, but soon rubbed it away with his free hand.  
  
"A surprise party, eh? It doesn't seem much of a surprise if you know of it. But if you're as sneaky as I remember you to be, it's difficult to keep a surprise from Ruby Knotwise. A regular trickster, rival to Pippin Took himself! But you've grown so! I can see your mother in you; you grow lovelier by the day."  
  
"Oh, uncle," she blushed.  
  
"Are you still fiddling? How I would dearly love to hear music again before I have nothing to hear at all," he said wistfully. Ruby grabbed his wrinkled hands in hers.  
  
"I should have brought my fiddle! Next time, next time, I will! But what do you mean, hear nothing at all?" Ruby frowned. Her heart was filled again with love for her dear uncle, and she quailed internally at the thought of anything dreadful happening to him.  
  
"Oh, don't worry yourself, my dear, but age is coming upon me as swift and silent as a thief. And it seems age has burgled my hearing from me. In this ear, this ear I call 'the bad one'. Why, I can remember my own father leaning over. 'Eh?' he always said. In a few years' time, we all were stomping around the house shouting to each other because we had grown so used to it. What a sight we were," he chuckled at the remembrance and his eyes took on a faraway look.  
  
"How dreadful it would be not to hear the birds, or the rooster welcoming the dawn, or the frogs at the river! And the sound of a fiddle! Oh, uncle!" she cried, tears brimming in her eyes.  
  
"No, no, my dear!" he said gently, placing a mottled hand on her cheek. "Even if I lose all my hearing, I will always have the memory, and then I will hear music every day, especially your fiddle!" He tapped her nose with his finger.  
  
A loud barking came from down the hallway. Ruby tensed and looked at her uncle, but he smiled at her, oblivious.  
  
"Come, uncle, I'm starved. Let me show you a recipe my mother taught me!" she said, climbing out of his lap and tugging at his arm.  
  
"Is it her special squash pie? I would give my right leg to taste your mother's squash pie again," he reminisced, grunting slightly as he rose from his chair. His cane clicked against the wood as he followed Ruby down the hall.  
  
"Chunks of squash, sliced carrots, corn…"  
  
His voice faded down the hallway as he accompanied Ruby to the kitchen. 


	3. Soap, Suds, and Discussions

While Ruby conversed with Uncle Knotwise, Fredgert struggled with the squirming dog in his arms, carrying it down the hall and into the bathing room. Plopping the dog down on the floor, Freddy closed the door behind him and stepped outside to fetch water from the pump. At the absence of his new master, the lonely dog began to bark, and Freddy returned to the knoll at a brisk pace carrying a large bucket of water that sloshed from side to side as he ran. As soon as he returned to the bathing room, he closed the door quickly.  
  
"Stop that racket or Uncle is likely to hear you and turn you out!" Freddy reprimanded. The furry beast cocked its head at Freddy and stared up at him with big eyes, its nub of a tail wagging back and forth slowly, as if unsure if the hobbit was truly mad or just wanted to play.  
  
"Come, let's at least get you clean. You smell as if you've been roaming the woods for several weeks. And that foul breath! I've half a mind to scrub your mouth out with soap if I weren't so afraid of getting near your teeth," Freddy said while pouring the bucket of lukewarm water into a wooden bathing tub. He set the empty bucket down with a faint thump and unbuttoned his cuffs, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows.  
  
"All right now, let's get you into the tub." Freddy pointed at the desired destination, but the little dog looked at him. Its tongue hung out of the left side of its mouth as it panted.  
  
"In, in," Freddy urged, tapping the side of the tub. "Well, don't you understand? It's bath time, come along. Get in." The creature cocked its head at him.  
  
"Very well, if you want to do this the hard way!" Freddy wrapped his arms around the dog and heaved it into the air, leaning over the tub to set it in the water. The dog wriggled wildly and Freddy slowly teetered forward, dog and hobbit falling into the water with a great splash.  
  
"Bath time for both of us it is, then," Freddy laughed, amusement replacing his anger. He reached for the bar of soap lying on the floor and dipped it into the water, lathering the dog's coat with rich suds as it sat in the water. The dog nudged forward and attempted to lick the peculiar object in Freddy's hand, as if curious as to what this hobbit was rubbing all over its body.  
  
"No no!" Freddy laughed once more, "Soap isn't for eating! I'll show you what's for eating as soon as this bath is over with."  
  
Freddy scrubbed and dipped and rinsed the dog until he supposed it was clean enough, then stood in his dripping clothes in the middle of the washtub and lifted the dog to the floor, where it promptly shook innumerable added droplets onto the walls, floor, and ceiling, and Freddy himself. After tending to the water and soap, and tidying as best he could, he opened the door a crack and peeked out. The smell of cooking vegetables reached his nose, and he inhaled deeply.  
  
"That's an encouraging smell. It means Ruby has decided to cook for us! If she's half as good as Aunt Knotwise, we're in for a real treat, you and I," Freddy spoke to the dog. "Stay here while I change."  
  
In half a moment, Freddy snatched his satchel where he had left it lying in the hallway and raced to his room where he promptly changed his wet clothing. A few minutes later, he returned wearing a set of warm, dry trousers and a cotton shirt, pulling a jacket onto his shoulders. "After all," he thought to himself, "we have company."  
  
Freddy knelt down in the hallway and opened the door to the bathing room slightly. The dog poked its black nose through, sniffed at Freddy's hand and proceeded to lick him.  
  
"I'll leave the door open a bit for you to breathe. I'm going to the kitchen, but I'll be back with scraps, if there are any left over," he whispered, giving the dog a last pat. Climbing to his feet, he walked down the hallway to the kitchen, and as he neared, the smell of bread grew stronger, and he heard the animated conversation of his Uncle and Ruby. They turned to look at him as he entered.  
  
"Well, well, there you are, Fredgert. Where have you been?" his Uncle inquired, holding a mug of tea in both of his hands. The steam writhed and twisted upwards from the cup in white clouds before dissipating.  
  
"I was…changing," Freddy replied quickly.  
  
"For an hour and a half?" his Uncle returned.  
  
"Uncle and I have had the most delightful conversation while you busied yourself, Freddy! He's told me of so many things I never knew even happened in the Shire, and to hobbits, no less. You ought to hear the story of Frodo Baggins," she said without turning around. She was slicing something on the table.  
  
"I've heard it many times," Freddy answered, seating himself at the table.  
  
"It is too grand a story to be told only once," his Uncle stated proudly, taking a sip from his mug.  
  
"Well, here it is, all done! Eat up, and tell me what you think." Ruby handed plates to the hobbits, old and young, and served them two slices of squash pie and two slices of bread each. She placed a dish of butter on the table and removed her apron, sitting down at the table and serving herself. Uncle Knotwise placed a forkful of the vegetable casserole in his mouth, as did Freddy and Ruby. The hobbits' eyes glanced from one to the other, the forks still stuck in their mouths. With much labor, Freddy swallowed.  
  
"Why, Ruby, it's…" Freddy began.  
  
"I've never tasted something so…" Uncle Knotwise commented slowly.  
  
Ruby glanced at both of the hobbits, then burst into laughter, dropping her fork onto the plate.  
  
"It's horrible, absolutely disgusting!" she laughed.  
  
"Oh, it's…it's not so bad," said Freddy, but the look on his face was rather green.  
  
"I suppose I forgot an ingredient," Ruby said quietly, biting her lip.  
  
"Well, let's try the bread!" Uncle Knotwise declared, and he took a large bite of the bread after smearing on some butter with his knife. "Absolutely delicious," he said after swallowing. He looked at his niece and nephew, who hadn't budged.  
  
"Go on, we'll have our feast of bread tonight," Uncle laughed. The hobbits buttered their bread and polished off the rest of the loaf, leaving the ruined squash pie on their plates. They spoke of many things, of their families, of their friends, upcoming birthday parties and weddings, and things only restricted to the Shire. Their minds did not stray past the Shire often. Eventually, the conversation rolled around to Fredgert's discovery.  
  
"What was it you said you found?" Uncle asked Freddy, draining the rest of the tea from his mug. Ruby promptly rose and refilled it for him.  
  
"A rock, strange and flat, with a carved figure, or rune in it. Though who would take the time to carve something into a rock is curious. I've never seen anything like it."  
  
"Will you let me see it?" Uncle Knotwise asked. Freddy nodded.  
  
"Yes, let me fetch it. I'll meet you in the library." Freddy pushed his chair away from the table and went to his room, fishing for the rock in his satchel. Retrieving it, he returned to the library where his uncle and Ruby were seated by the fireplace.  
  
"Here it is," he said, and surrendered the rock to his uncle.  
  
"Interesting," Uncle Knotwise pondered aloud, squinting to get a closer look. "I'm not familiar with this writing, but it is peculiar, very peculiar indeed. By the looks alone, it seems very old. It has been worn smooth and the carving is not deep." He showed the rock to the two hobbits at his side and turned it over in his hands.  
  
"Ah!" he cried. The two hobbits leaned forward.  
  
"What is it, Uncle?" Freddy asked.  
  
"There is writing here. Fetch me a—a—nevermind." He pulled out the end of his shirt and carefully brushed the surface of the rock. "I recognize this. Yes, it is in our Common language. I can make it out! Fredgert, fetch a quill!"  
  
Freddy leaped to his feet and dashed to his uncle's desk, grabbing a feather quill and dipping it in the ink with a shaking hand.  
  
"Write this: E…"  
  
Ruby leaned over Freddy's shoulder as he wrote.  
  
"N…"  
  
Freddy wrote.  
  
"T…S." Uncle Knotwise concluded.  
  
"Is that all?" Freddy asked.  
  
"Yes, that is all. Now what have you written?" The rocking chair creaked as the old hobbit leaned forward, and Ruby's breathing stopped. Freddy set down the quill and lifted the paper.  
  
"Ents," he read. "Ents? What does 'ents' mean? Are you sure you're not missing a letter or two, Uncle?"  
  
"I—"  
  
He was cut off by a loud crash from the kitchen.  
  
The three hobbits raced to the kitchen, Uncle Knotwise limping along with his cane as best he could, and they arrived in the kitchen to a dismal sight. A small tan dog was standing atop the table, licking the plates clean that had formerly had slices of squash pie on them. The cousins awaited the rebuke that would follow, but none came. Freddy ventured a glance at Uncle Knotwise's face, and he was laughing and smiling so widely, there were tears in the corner of his eyes.  
  
"At least someone enjoyed your squash pie, dear Ruby," Uncle Knotwise said through tears of laughter. 


	4. Squash's Escape

"I'm sorry, Freddy, but he can't possibly stay he—he—ah choo!" Uncle Knotwise fumbled in his pocket for his handkerchief and mopped his nose. His eyes had already begun to water as soon as he had stood in the room for a few minutes with the dog.  
  
"I know, Uncle," Freddy sighed. He and Ruby looked dismally at the mess that the beast had caused. Dishes had been nudged off the table to break on the hard wooden floor, and dinner napkins were strewn about the kitchen. The pudgy imp sat just underneath the table, wagging its tail excitedly as Ruby shook her finger at him.  
  
"Naughty, very naughty, you little squash devourer. If you aren't going to help with the mess then stop looking so proud you caused it!" She frowned at the dog, repressing a smile. It was hard to stay angry at such a cute face.  
  
"I never heard of a dog that likes squash, and Ruby's, in fact," Freddy commented, tucking the momentarily forgotten rock into his pocket and bending over to collect the dinner napkins from the floor. The excitable mutt bounded over to him and took hold of the napkin in its mouth. It began to growl as it attempted to tug the cloth from Freddy's hand.  
  
"I should've been more upset if even a dog wouldn't have eaten it," Ruby laughed, setting the dishes that weren't broken onto the counter. She heard Freddy say "Stop, stop, now this isn't a game! Let go!" as he struggled to yank the napkin from the dog's jaws.  
  
"Oh! Freddy, not the napkins! Those were your Aunt's treasured favorites!" Uncle cried, but too late. A slight ripping sound was heard, and a large tear appeared in the cloth. Freddy gave one last tug and the dog released the napkin, sending Freddy tumbling backwards onto his seat.  
  
"Goodness, goodness," Uncle Knotwise cried. "Do take the dog out of the kitchen, Freddy, before he causes any more t—t—tr—achoo!"  
  
"Of course, Uncle. Come along, little terror!" he beckoned to the dog and walked down the hallway towards the round wooden door that led to his room. Pulling it open, he stepped through and just heard Uncle Knotwise saying, "Go on, go on, Ruby. Let me clean the m—m—achoo!" before he closed the door. Freddy looked down at the dog, who stared back up at him. He could almost imagine a smile planted on its face.  
  
"A lovely impression you've made on Uncle, Squash," he spoke to the dog, leaning over to wipe an unidentifiable vegetable still clinging to the small animal's shiny nose. Turning and closing the door tightly behind him, he walked back to the kitchen. In a few minutes, they had the kitchen as clean as it had been before the disaster, and thoughts concerning the rock passed from their minds. Freddy was reminded by his sneezing and sniffling uncle that he would have to think of what to do with the dog next morning. Afterwards, Uncle Knotwise retired for the evening and Ruby yawned, bidding Freddy a good night before heading to the guest room. Freddy, all alone, lifted a lit candle from the table and shuffled down the hallway towards the now empty library. He stepped to the fireplace and prepared to extinguish the flames, but his eye caught the piece of paper lying on the desk nearby. Setting the candle down on the desk, he took the paper in his hands and made out the letters.  
  
"Ents," he murmured, recognition dawning in his mind, slowly, but unclearly, as if trying to focus on something very tiny in the distance. "Ents, ents…" he repeated, shuffling through his memory of all the stories he had heard from his uncle. Most likely all myths, but his mind centered on the story of Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took. Friends of Frodo Baggins, the Ring-bearer, they had been, but had become separated and experienced an adventure all their own. There were stories and myths aplenty in the Shire, it was mostly impossible to determine which ones were imagination and which were real. He had certainly never seen an oliphaunt, for example, but many insisted they existed. Now, as he thought back, he supposed he had heard mention of ents, but couldn't remember what exactly they were. Crumpling the paper in his hand, he shook his head and tossed it into the fire. He patted the rock in his pocket.  
  
"Just some lucky trinket I've found," he said, and extinguished the fire.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Freddy was being shaken. He had been dreaming of elves with wings taking him underneath the arms and flying with him above the entire Shire. Groggily, he opened his eyes. It was still dark out.  
  
"Too early, too early," he mumbled.  
  
"Freddy! Freddy wake up! I heard something, outside the window, in the kitchen!" Ruby whispered urgently. She was dressed in a very baggy old nightgown of Aunt Knotwise's that had been tucked away for some years. Her eyes were wide with fright.  
  
"What were you doing in the kitchen?" Freddy complained, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His curly hair was sticking up every which way, and he patted his bed, looking for the dog. "Where is Squash?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep. Where is who?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing, just a silly nickname I made for the dog, is all," he stammered, blushing in the darkness.  
  
"Well, he was with me! Oh, hurry Freddy, before something happens!" she wailed softly, stepping back while he pulled the blankets off and slipped out of his bed.  
  
"All right, all right," he surrendered and followed her down the hallway. She slowed as she neared the entrance of the kitchen, and then stopped, whispering to Freddy, "I was opening the window for a bit of fresh air and I heard something rustling in the rose bush."  
  
"The rose bush?" he whispered back. "No one would creep about at night in the rose bush, those thorns are inches long!"  
  
"There was something there! Go look and see," she urged.  
  
"Well, looking isn't going to do any good," he complained, remembering what happened the last time he had been pressured to "look." Nonetheless, he crept forward towards the little round window. It was open, allowing a gentle breeze to blow through. There, below the window, sat Squash, looking upwards devotedly, and unmoving. As Freddy neared, Squash began to growl softly. Swallowing a nervous lump in his throat, Freddy edged to the window and looked out. There was the accustomed Shire countryside blanketed in night, the faint twinkle of a burning lantern hanging on some hobbit's doorpost visible from where he stood. He heard an owl hooting in the distance and the tweeting of night birds in the nearby forest.  
  
"There's nothing," he said, relieved, and reached out to close the window.  
  
All at once, Squash leaped into action and vaulted from the floor to the chair, onto the table and smoothly out the window, narrowly avoiding the rose bush and landing with a slight yelp on the hilly Knotwise lawn. He tore off down the road, barking wildly all the way.  
  
"Squash!" shouted Freddy, leaning out the window and cupping his hands around his mouth. "Come back!" Ruby joined him at the window and they watched in despair as the dog disappeared into the night. 


	5. The Chase

"Well, that solves what I'm going to do with him," sighed Freddy, and he swung the window closed. Ruby spun on him.  
  
"What? You're going to let him run off?" she asked in a whisper, turning and running back down the hallway.  
  
"Ruby! Ruby, suppose he saw his master?" Freddy called after her, following her down the hall. She entered the guest room and closed the door firmly behind her. Freddy shook his head slowly and scratched his head, letting his feet drag as he walked to his room to return to sleep. Her door opened once more, and she strode into the hall, walking briskly past him, fully dressed. He stopped and darted after her, but she already had her foot out the door.  
  
"Ruby, where are you going at this hour? Ruby!" he shouted after her.  
  
"I'm going to find Squash!" she called back, her voice fading away as she walked down the road.  
  
"Ruby! Oh, oh," Freddy paced for a moment, then turned on his heel and ran back to his room, pulling his shirt and trousers from the back of the chair they were draped across. He lifted his nightgown from his head and pulled on his trousers, then his shirt, dashing down the hallway and outside, closing the door softly behind him. He fumbled with his suspenders. "Ouch!" he mumbled, letting his suspenders dangle behind him as he raced down the stone steps and onto the road.  
  
"Ruby! Ruby, wait!" he shouted, running forward. He saw her in the distance and he pumped his legs faster until he caught up with her.  
  
"Where are you going?" he gasped. The cool night air whipped past them as they ran, the sound of their pounding feet breaking the stillness of the night.  
  
"I can see him, just up there!" she said, pointing. He squinted into the distance and barely made out the form of the little yellow dog, still barking. Suddenly the dog veered sharply right and dove into the underbrush. They reached the same spot minutes later, and without hesitation, Ruby dove in after the dog.  
  
"Oh boy," Freddy muttered and pushed himself through the scratchy bushes. He glanced ahead, looking for Ruby's form, and caught sight of her leaping over a fallen log. Quickly following, he wound his way through the trees, pushing aside low branches that whipped back once he released them and stung his face like tiny whips. Once he tripped when his foot caught on a vine, and another time he tripped over a rock and fell flat on his face. But leaping to his feet lest he lose sight of Ruby, he quickly recovered his momentum. He finally caught up to her when she hesitated at the brink of a steep hill.  
  
"He went down there," she panted, delicately placing a foot at the edge. "Oh! I'm scared of heights!" she cried. They glanced down the hill. It wasn't a steep drop, but it was covered in leaves, and it seemed fairly free of stones. Freddy got an idea.  
  
"Come along," he said to Ruby, and sat down at the edge.  
  
"What are you going to do?" she asked nervously.  
  
"You'll see!" he said, and grabbed her around the waist. Sitting her in his lap, he pushed himself towards the slope. As he deduced, they began to slide downwards rapidly on the leaves, and Freddy was nearly deafened by Ruby's screams.  
  
"We're going to crash!"  
  
"No we aren't!"  
  
At last they slid gently to level ground, and Freddy and Ruby rose to their feet and resumed the chase. By now, they had no idea which route Squash had chosen and only continued in the logical path they assumed he would take, which was forward. They leaped over low bushes, darted between trees, and dodged sharp saplings. The mossy curtains of the large trees brushed the tops of their heads as they journeyed through the dark forest, and Freddy couldn't help but feel a little nervous as they walked through the wilderness, even though they were still in the Shire. It seemed they had been traveling for hours, but he knew it had only been a half an hour or so. But, despite that, his legs began to ache at the pace he was keeping, and his face stung from the scratches he had received while clumsily running into nearly invisible branches in the darkness.  
  
"We need to rest!" he shouted to Ruby, who he had let run ahead of him. It was easier to run single file as they constantly had to wind between trees.  
  
"We'll lose Squash!" she called back.  
  
"I wouldn't want to stop in the middle of these woods anyway," he muttered to himself, glancing at the darkness beside him. He saw what he thought were two eyes staring at him and he ran faster to get away, but he hadn't marked where he was going and smacked straight into a tree, knocking the wind out of him.  
  
"Oof," he gasped, crawling miserably around the tree and stumbling to his feet. "Ruby, Ruby, wait!" He struggled to run after her, but he had lost his momentum and his energy. He rebuked himself for being so clumsy and pushed himself to go faster, but as he tripped forward and continued receiving scratches from the unseen branches, he felt himself getting weaker.  
  
"Freddy!" he heard Ruby call for him. He lifted himself to his feet after another fall and blindly followed her voice, and they called to each other back and forth until they finally found each other again. They rushed to each other and embraced.  
  
"I thought you were lost!" Ruby cried, and she rubbed the tears of gladness from her cheeks.  
  
"I would hate to be lost here," Freddy said, and they once again continued forward, but this time with clasped hands, for they were afraid of losing one another again. At last they broke through the thick trees and the far off sound of rushing water met their ears. Ruby ran forward and shouted back to Freddy.  
  
"I saw Squash! Over there, he's just across the Brandywine!"  
  
Freddy wiped the sweat from his forehead and surveyed the landscape ahead. He shook his head in disbelief.  
  
"The Brandywine River! Oh, don't tell me we've come this far, Ruby! Uncle will worry himself sick when he finds we're gone."  
  
"We'll be back soon enough. Look, there is Squash! We can catch up to him now!" she cried, and raced towards the river. It was just a shadow in the darkness, but the hobbits knew it well and raced towards the banks.  
  
"Oh, Ruby, you've lost your mind! This water is freezing! And I can't swim half as well as I'd like to. We'll never make it in this darkness," Freddy protested, but Ruby was already wading into the water.  
  
"Ruby, you're going to get yourself killed! You ought to be locked in your hummock for a lifetime!" he cried, and stepped closer. He took a deep breath and plunged into the river, and the frigid water nearly took his breath away, but he paddled forward slowly, conserving his energy.  
  
"How dreadfully boring that would be!" she called back, and her laughter danced across the water's surface. Teeth chattering, the hobbits swam the width of the river, which seemed larger to Freddy than he remembered, though that was probably because he was now swimming across instead of using the bridge or a ferry. At long last, when he felt his limbs had lost all strength and he had resorted to paddling, his feet met the beginnings of the bank and he clambered out of the river, turning to help Ruby out beside him. The wind wrapped around them and chilled them to the bone. Nonetheless, they continued forward.  
  
"I saw him go through ther-r-re," Ruby chattered, gesturing at the ominous shadow of the forest rising before them.  
  
"Out one forest and in another," Freddy said, and led the way.  
  
  
  
NOTE: I realize it would take them much longer to get from Hobbiton to the Brandywine River, much less the Old Forest, but for the sake of space and the story, I gave them a bit of a boost. 


	6. Discovery

"I don't like the looks of this, Ruby," Freddy said quietly. For reasons unknown, he was compelled to whisper, and it felt as if the trees were closing in around them, threatening to confine them within a leafy prison. Despite the feeling of being unwelcome, the hobbits continued forward in the thick silence. This time, they traveled side by side, receiving comfort from each others' presences as the growing uneasiness filled them.  
  
Far ahead, they heard the faint barking of a dog, and overjoyed, they raced forward. It seemed the forest stretched on forever, but they ran still, and when they felt their legs would give out from fatigue, they saw the pudgy dog sitting at the base of a tree, barking. Ruby cautiously peeped around, then crept forward and knelt on the ground.  
  
"Squash! There you are! Where have you gone, you fool dog? You've led us into the middle of nowhere to bark at a tree!" she reprimanded, but the dog ignored her and continued barking. Freddy leaned against a tree and sank to the forest floor, his ears alert to the sounds around him.  
  
"I could be safe at home, smoking a pipe right now, right in front of the fireplace," he said wistfully.  
  
"You know very well you don't smoke," Ruby said, and he could sense her rolling her eyes in the darkness.  
  
"Not yet, but I mean to," he returned. He fished around in his pocket and felt the flat rock, pulling it out. "What have I got in my pocket?" he mumbled, and suddenly remembered the rock.  
  
"Well, we ought to start a fire at least, for protection if nothing else," he heard Ruby say. He felt the stifling presence of the trees and shuddered inwardly.  
  
"I dare not lay a hand on any thing in this forest. I can't explain why, I just feel it. Can you?" Freddy shrank against the tree, and he felt Ruby sit next to him. At last, the dog gave up its barking and came to the hobbits, squirming into Ruby's lap and licking her face once before curling up comfortably. Ruby yawned as she patted the dog and murmured, "Very well then, I'm content to sit in a dark forest so long as I'm not alone," and those were the last words she spoke, for she leaned against Freddy's shoulder and fell fast asleep.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
When Freddy awoke, he was lying on the ground. He sat up abruptly and glanced around for Ruby, but she was lying peacefully beside him asleep and the dog was curled beside her. He distinctly remembered leaning against a tree, but he supposed he had moved in the night or Ruby had moved him, but the whole incident remained a mystery in his mind. Nonetheless, he forgot it and rose to his feet, suddenly aware of the emptiness in his stomach.  
  
"Oh, what I would give for eggs, bacon, and biscuits," he murmured, taking this chance to look well at his surroundings. Though it was morning, the forest was still gloomy, as most of the tree cover blocked the sunlight. The air was rather stuffy, and the trees were thick, but there seemed to be no other wildlife around, for even the birds were silent. Sensing his movement, the dog woke, yawned, stretched, and rose to his feet to give Freddy a good morning welcome. Freddy rubbed him behind the ears and received several licks.  
  
"Well, good morning to you as well, Squash. Shall we wake Ruby and find a way out of here?" He leaned over and shook Ruby's shoulder, and she yawned and rubbed her eyes, sitting up.  
  
"Morning already? Have you got breakfast ready?" she asked sleepily, rising to her feet.  
  
"Yes, just this way, seventy-two trees to your left and you'll find a breakfast feast."  
  
"Well then, forgive me for asking if you're going to be funny about it," she said, feigning offense as she bent over to pat the dog.  
  
As soon as they had woken enough, they began walking once more, this time with the little dog bounding merrily at their side. They felt no urgency and took their time, walking at a comfortable pace. Freddy had taken the rock from his pocket and proceeded to turn it over in his hands as he walked, examining the back and front sides.  
  
Ruby glanced over at him. "Is that your trinket with all the nonsense written on it?" she asked.  
  
"It could be nonsense, or it could mean something," he returned. She reached for it, but he pulled away.  
  
"Let me see it," she said.  
  
"If you think it's nonsense, why should you want to see it?" he teased, holding the rock above his head.  
  
"Because I want to!" she insisted, and leaped for the rock, but he moved it out of her reach. She grabbed his arm and attempted to wrest the rock from his hand, but he passed the rock to his other hand and laughed, jumping away. She ran after him and they hopped over logs and through bushes in their gleeful chase. Grabbing his leg, she caused him to tumble to the ground, and the trinket flew from his hand to land in a patch of moss a few yards away.  
  
"Freddy Knotwise, you're cruel," Ruby scowled and stood up, dusting herself off. She leaped over Freddy's form on the ground and sauntered over to the location of the fallen rock, and began to scream.  
  
"Ruby! What is it?" Freddy scrambled over to where she stood and looked down. The rock lay just beside a skeleton, its empty eye sockets staring blankly upwards, its jaw hanging open in a hideous grin. It still wore tattered and moldy rags of clothing, and Freddy could tell by the pipe that lay beside it that it had been a hobbit.  
  
Ruby ran to him and buried her face in his shoulder, and he normally would have gloated at her moment of weakness, but as she trembled next to him, he too felt sickened at the sight. He loosed himself from her and cautiously approached the bones, snatching his rock away. But as he bent over, he caught sight of a wrinkled piece of parchment, still intact and held in the skeleton's bony grasp. Reaching out, he tugged at the paper, but it stuck fast to its bony captor, and as he yanked again, the entire hand was removed with it but dropped to the ground, freeing the parchment.  
  
Freddy backed away and smoothed out the parchment, looking closely at the markings. It seemed to be a map, but unfinished, and he recognized the shape of the Brandywine River.  
  
"Sh…Shire," he read, tracing his finger along the word. Ruby edged closer.  
  
"Freddy, you can read after all?" she asked.  
  
He blushed unnoticeably. "I can, it just…it takes me longer than others," he admitted, and continued perusing the map.  
  
"This is the Shire," he said, pointing, and he moved his hand across the Brandywine River, where the deceased cartographer had drawn many squiggles to represent trees.  
  
"This must be the Old Forest," Ruby mused.  
  
Their eyes followed the markings until they scanned the southern part of the portion that served to represent the Old Forest. In the center of the portion was a strange design, starting at the bottom with what looked like a horizontal bolt of lightning, and above it was an extended octagonal shape with a star drawn off center in the middle of it.  
  
Freddy's eyes widened.  
  
"I've seen this shape before! That's the…the…"  
  
He held the rock in his hand up to the map, and the symbols were nearly identical.  
  
"Ruby!" he cried, "This isn't a word, or a rune, it's a map!"  
  
"A map? To what?"  
  
"To…to…" he turned the rock over in his hands. "To ents!" 


	7. Twinbough

Ruby burst into laughter, but it subsided as soon as she saw the look on Freddy's face.  
  
"Oh, Freddy, you're not serious? Surely you're joking?" she asked uncertainly. Freddy folded the map with a slight crinkling and tucked it into his shirt pocket. He turned to her.  
  
"I think we've found something spectacular," he said, and there was a light in his eyes. "Yes! Yes, why Ruby, we have a map here! This means," and he stopped to fumble in his pocket to retrieve the map again, unfolding it briskly, "we have the directions to these Ents! I believe the hobbit carved this rock, Ruby, before he, well…" Freddy gestured at the remains.  
  
Ruby laughed loudly. "Freddy, have you lost your sense? What—who—what if these Ents are what killed him? I'd rather not stay around to meet them, or it—whatever it is—or we're likely to end up just as he is!"  
  
"But it must be something important enough for him to preserve twice! If we could just follow this map, I think—"  
  
"You mean to go trekking in this forest? Without food? Without water?" Ruby threw her hands in the air.  
  
"Ruby, Ruby," he chided, "I've been in this forest before. I know the way—"  
  
"You know then what they say about this forest," she returned, lowering her voice and drawing closer. "There is something dark here, something that is always lurking. I'd rather not take to foolhardy wandering." And with that she glanced over her shoulder as if there were something watching at that very moment.  
  
"It's not foolhardy, we've the path set before us, right here," he insisted, patting the rock.  
  
"If you should like to wander and end up just as that fellow," and she jabbed her finger in the direction of the long deceased hobbit, "you may do it by yourself," she huffed, and crossed her arms.  
  
"The forest is always changing, Ruby. I can sense it as well as you. I know it watches," he threw a glance around, and then his gaze returned to her face. "This is our chance for adventure, Ruby. Come just a little bit further with me, I won't have you wandering all alone in the forest. I shall have us back by sunset, I promise!" he urged with a last effort.  
  
"Very well," she sighed. "But if we get lost in here forever, I'm going to take that rock of yours and toss it in the river!"  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
The hobbits began their journey, using the rock as a crude guide. With closer examination, Freddy had noticed thin white veins running through the rock, and a thought occurred to him. "They are the paths we should take!" he exclaimed at last. "The hobbit carved around them so he could still see them!" With this theory in mind, they ventured to take the path that the lines in the rock dictated. The path was irrational and irregular, as the map often led them straight to the center of a large tree trunk, or through a tangle of thorny brush, and soon the hobbits began to wonder if they were walking in circles.  
  
"I've seen this tree before, I know I have!" Ruby complained, plopping onto the ground at the base of a large tree with smooth grey bark. Freddy also sighed and sat on the ground, letting the rock slip from his fingers.  
  
"What a mess my idea has become," he said, letting out a breath of air. "I'm frightfully thirsty, and I don't think we shall see the light of day for a while yet."  
  
"Mother is probably baking sweet cakes for breakfast," Ruby said drearily, and as if on cue, her stomach let go of a loud rumble.  
  
"I could drink the whole Brandywine River," Freddy said. He looked down at Squash, and even the little dog was panting.  
  
"Come along, we mustn't tarry," Freddy grunted as he rose. He bent over to take the rock from the ground and began tramping through the underbrush, humming as he went. "Say, Ruby, you're awfully quiet," he said after a few moments. The forest around him seemed to double in size, threatening to stifle him as he continued forward.  
  
"Ruby?" he asked, his voice sounding suddenly very small. He turned around and no one was behind him, his heart thumping in his chest. "Ruby! Squash!" he shouted, but the impenetrable trees muffled his cries. Nevertheless, the fearsome little hound came charging through the underbrush, happily wagging its tail as it circled Freddy's feet.  
  
"Squash! There you are! Where is Ruby? Where is she?" he asked, as if expecting a response. He knew the little dog wouldn't have left Ruby's side if he had been with her. Looking up at the looming oaks and firs and lindens, he never recalled feeling quite as small as he felt at that moment. "I'm done for," he thought morbidly, and he sank to the base of a tree, hugging the dog to his chest.  
  
"Will you kindly, hmm, remove your trunk from my roots?" he heard a voice ask from somewhere behind him. Leaping to his feet, he glanced wildly around, his heart thumping in his chest with joy.  
  
"What a cruel joke! This is too much, this time! Show yourself at once, Ruby!" he cried, and looked to and fro. Squash began to growl deep in his throat as he sat at the base of a large tree with smooth grey bark. The branches of the tree began to rustle, and he felt a shuddering in the earth that traveled all the way up to his knees.  
  
"I believe you are mistaken, young hobbit. That is what you are called, if I recall aright. But I forget little and remember well," the voice continued speaking. It wasn't until Freddy looked up to the source of the voice that he realized it emanated from the tree itself. As he looked closer, he realized the tree itself wasn't a regular tree at all, but its trunk was swathed in moss that almost resembled a robe or dress, with several star shaped leaves climbing in a spiral to the branches. Its leaves were long and fernlike, draping downwards almost as hair, and two deep brown eyes were set into a smooth, barely grooved silver-grey face. Two long branches, which weren't branches at all, swept downwards and bent towards him, ending in six slender fingers that he realized were actually hands.  
  
"Why, you're a tree! A talking tree!" he cried, falling backwards. There was a deep musical chuckle, and the tall ash leaned downwards as well as it could manage to get a closer look at him. There was a mouth after all, a kindly mouth that was upturned in a smile, and there were flickers of green in its eyes, which seemed deep with knowledge and shining with benevolence.  
  
"Not a tree, a tree itself, perhaps not," came the voice, which was rich and melodious, as of a well-loved grandmother, yet wise and tinged with amusement. "But if I took the time to tell you what I truly am and how I came to be, we should be here for a long while, by your peoples' reckoning. You are a hasty folk, quite hasty, as I have seen and I have watched for a long while, before you yourself walked underneath the sun." Here she paused and seemed to take a deep breath, closing her eyes as she drank in the surroundings, and when she opened her eyes, it seemed the evil of the forest had subsided for the moment.  
  
"I am an Ent, as we have been called, and as we are known, if we are still known by this name. But I was an Entmaiden once." It seemed she sighed wistfully. "Many seasons have passed, and I would be called an Entwife, were times as they once were."  
  
It was difficult for Freddy to follow her speech, but he listened intently, and as closely as he could over the barking of the dog beside him. Squash suddenly trotted up to her roots, (or feet, now that Freddy could see toes) and grabbed hold of her foot in his mouth, growling menacingly. The Entwife lowered her arm and wrapped her knotted fingers around the dog's midsection, lifting it high into the air and bringing it closer to examine.  
  
"This, I have seen this before, but not in many ages. In your tongue, this manycolored-fourlegged-haircovered-companionofman—"  
  
"Dog?" Freddy guessed blankly, still held in awe that he was talking to an Ent.  
  
"Yes, this 'dog'," she agreed, and set the hound back on its feet. "Though we have many names for this creature, this one in our tongue—" and she broke off into a strange mumbling in her language which sounded to Freddy much like "rumba looma tooma rolla tolla rooma," but he dared not interrupt her. All at once she stopped, and seemed to remember his presence.  
  
"M-miss Ent," Freddy stammered, "I don't mean to enter--, that is, interrupt, and I'm pleased to meet you, but I've lost my cousin, and I'm afraid she's going to get lost in this dreadful forest!"  
  
The tall ash bent barely at the waist and a flicker of amusement passed over her grey features. Freddy noticed a star-leafed vine curled just around her head so it looked as if a circlet adorned her hair.  
  
"Yes, the other hobbit, I have seen her. This 'dreadful' forest, as you put it, is my home, but there are things in this forest," and he heard a rumble of disapproval rise from deep within her throat, "that even the Entwives avoid. Not from fear, but necessity. Come with me, hobbit, and we shall find her." With that, she easily lifted Freddy with her long, grey arms, and Freddy half-expected to be scratched by the bark of such a tree, but he discovered her bark, or skin, was smoother than he expected, and as cool as the forest floor. So he nestled in the crook of her arm with Squash held tightly in his own arms, and he looked in amazement as the ground sped by underneath him with every Ent-stride.  
  
"I must be careful not to tread on her," the Entwife said as she walked. "And as soon as we find her, though I am not as hasty as hobbits, I desire to know why two hobbits were in the Old Forest, the Entwives' domain."  
  
She continued through the forest, and it seemed she covered more ground in less than half the time it had taken for the hobbits to navigate their way through. In no time at all, it seemed to Freddy, they came to a depression in the ground, which seemed as a small hollow to Freddy from his perch, but he imagined it was a very steep hill at hobbit-height. There, at the bottom of the hill, lay Ruby and she looked disheveled as she held both of her knees in pain. It looked as if she had taken a tumble, and as they spotted her, Freddy waved his arm, careful not to drop Squash.  
  
"Well, if it isn't Ruby Knotwise. Here I am, up here, look up!" he shouted, and he saw that she did as he had requested, and her eyes widened in shock.  
  
"Freddy! What are you doing in that tree?" she asked. The Entwife suddenly scooped the hobbit into her other arm and tucked her at the crook of her elbow; in the same manner she had placed Freddy.  
  
"Oh!" he heard Ruby gasp, but she remained still, realizing that she was in no danger.  
  
"I will take you to safety in the Gardens. For you are light for hobbits, and I suspect you hunger and thirst, as all hobbits do," she said to them.  
  
"What are you called? Where do you come from? Were you what Squash was chasing?" Ruby questioned nervously, though she sat comfortably in her perch on the Entwife's arm.  
  
There was another musical chuckle audible among the rhythmic footsteps of her strides.  
  
"I am not so hasty that I can answer three questions at once, but I will tell you that I was an Entwife, and that I am an Ent, but that story I shall save for later, and for another storyteller. As for my name, you may call me Twinbough," she answered evenly, never diverting from her straight course to step aside or wind around any tree, but it seemed the very trees gave way before her and allowed her to pass.  
  
"I will bring you to see Wandlimb," she spoke at last, after they had traveled some distance in silence, though the hobbits suspected the Entwife had been deep in thought as she bore them onward.  
  
"Who is Wandlimb?" Ruby asked.  
  
"She is the eldest and fairest of the Entwives, and she led us to this place many seasons ago, after Sauron the Dark Lord drove us away and destroyed our gardens," Twinbough explained, and he could feel her branches quivering with repressed and long-forgotten anger. "That is as swiftly as I can explain it," she said.  
  
"Sauron?" Freddy asked. "Why, Sauron's been as dead as a doornail for years now! He won't be bothering anyone anymore," Freddy promptly replied.  
  
The long, measured strides of the Entwife never faltered, but she grew silent once more, and for a few moments, the hobbits wondered if she had heard them at all, but she finally spoke.  
  
"Dead, dead, no, not dead," she replied, and rumbled something in her native tongue. As she spoke, she hesitated in her speech every so often to release an earthy sigh tinged with wistfulness or some form of melancholy. She then resumed, "Sauron is powerless. But…we had felt it, in the ground, the trees, the wind. We could smell it, but we were not certain. I will tell the Entwives," she said, and her pace slowed as she drew nearer to a barrier of trees draped in soft moss and vines. The faint trickling of a stream met their ears, and as they looked down, they saw that the stream led up to the trees and disappeared between the trunks of two large rowans. Twinbough splashed through the stream and approached the obstruction, which drew aside at once.  
  
"Welcome to the Gardens of Fimbrethil," she said, stepping through the entrance. 


	8. Gardens of the Entwives

The hobbits were carried into the Gardens, and their eyes widened in amazement that such a lovely paradise could be found within the dark and dismal Old Forest. Sunlight somehow reached the large clearing through gaps in the tree cover, and many colorful birds flitted here and there among the branches of the trees. Flowering bushes with their pink, white, yellow and red blossoms were interspersed almost erratically, but naturally, between fernlike foliage at the edge of a small pond containing glittering blue water. Twinbough and the hobbits crossed the trickling stream that fed the pool and she gently set them on the ground, and Freddy was almost reluctant to leave the safety of her arms. The trees themselves seemed to come alive around them, and a handful of Entwives approached the three visitors, gazing curiously at them while rumbling to Twinbough in their own language. There was a surprising variety of them, from oaks to willows, chestnut to rowan, birch and yew. But they were alike in that their eyes only radiated kindness, and the hobbits felt at ease. A large brown Entwife with golden leaves that seemed to be eternally in autumn suddenly spoke to Ruby.  
  
"Come with me, hobbit, and I shall tend your nicks," she said, and took Ruby in the crook of her arm, as all Ents seemed partial to carrying the small ones. Freddy looked rather forlorn as Ruby was carried away, and Squash, disoriented by the sudden appearance of the looming trees, cowered at Freddy's feet in a quivering yellow ball.  
  
"Hobbits are not regular visitors of the Gardens," spoke Twinbough at his side, and she walked forward, leading Freddy to a large clearing underneath several willows where there were bushes resplendent with all varieties of fruit. The springy grass was lush and velvety underneath his feet, and bright butterflies glided through the air before and behind him, as if welcoming him with every brush of their silky wings against his skin.  
  
"You may rest here and eat as much as you wish, hobbit. Your friend will join you soon. I will seek Wandlimb and speak to her, and after you are rested, you may tell her your story," she said kindly. She reached above her head and took hold of a branch dangling several shiny red apples, shaking it lightly. The apples dropped to the ground to land in the luxuriant grass without hurt, and Freddy thanked her.  
  
"I would much rather be called by my name, if you please. My name is Fredgert Knotwise, but you may call me Freddy if you'd like," he said, performing a small bow. Her eyes twinkled in amusement, and her leaves rustled as she returned her arm to her side.  
  
"I would much rather call you by your name, if you are so free to give it. You may trust me. Now rest, and I will come to you soon." She turned and walked towards a pair of weeping willows, disappearing among their wispy leaves. Freddy looked around him carefully, his stomach rumbling at the sight of the plentiful food available. If this was a garden, he felt sheepish to call his own little patch of land by that name. Vines twined up the side of thick trees lined perfectly in several rows, each bearing a different kind of fruit. Bushes laden with berries stood proudly in the pale sunlight, providing shelter for the small flowers that peeked out from the rug of green grass.  
  
"Freddy!" someone called his name. He turned from his observations and saw Ruby skipping across the clearing towards him, her cheeks red with health. Squash began to wag his tail happily at her appearance. An Entwife approached behind her slowly, carrying a large wooden plate in her hands. It was the oak that had carried Ruby off, and she set the plate on the ground as well as she could without bending too much in the middle, assisted by her long arms. The plate was larger than the hobbit himself, and there was a vivid array of fresh fruit and vegetables arranged on it. Freddy's hungry eyes scanned the plump grapes, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, the bright orange carrots, red tomatoes, and nameless other produce.  
  
"Isn't it wonderful?" Ruby asked excitedly. "They grow everything imaginable here! If only Uncle Knotwise could see this lovely garden," she said, sitting on the ground and taking hold of a plum from the proffered plate. She began to explain that once she had been carried away, the Entwife had dressed her wounds with a sweet-smelling, earthy poultice that had immediately soothed the sting, and then had wrapped her knees with a mossy bandage.  
  
"Do you think they would mind if we took a stroll through the gardens?" she asked at the end of her explanation.  
  
"I suppose not," Freddy assumed, and they rose to their feet, tucking a handful of grapes and cherries each into their pockets to munch on as they explored. The grass was cool and thick as they walked, and they wound between the trees and bushes, pausing at the pond to cup some water into their mouths. They found that it was cold and refreshing, and drank their fill, and even Squash seemed more refreshed as he lapped up the water with his tongue.  
  
"I can hardly believe something this magnificent has been hidden in the Old Forest for so long, and none of us knew a thing about it," Freddy said.  
  
"Except for the poor hobbit with the map," Ruby replied, shuddering. She popped a grape into her mouth and chewed blissfully. The Entwives seemed preoccupied with their work as the hobbits watched them, but they knew better than to assume the Entwives weren't watchful. Several Entwives seemed to be planting seeds in one portion of the garden, and another held a large wooden bucket with a spout on one end, and as she tilted it, crystal droplets of water showered down upon tender shoots that had begun to sprout upwards from the brown soil. It was miraculous to watch them work, not only because they performed every chore with methodical diligence, but there was also a calm serenity to the gardens as they tended them. The gardens were blanketed with peacefulness, reflected in the languid burble of the crystal stream and regular rustle of the breeze-blown trees.  
  
"Freddy?" Ruby asked suddenly, turning towards him. "You knew about Ents, didn't you? That's why you were so anxious to find them."  
  
Freddy finished chewing a piece of fruit he had popped into his mouth and sat down by the edge of the pond.  
  
"I'd heard about Ents from one of Uncle's stories, but I didn't think they truly existed. Do you remember the story of Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took?" Freddy asked. Ruby stretched out on the soft grass, and Squash wriggled into her lap.  
  
"Why, yes, from Uncle," Ruby responded. "He always admired the Fellowship."  
  
"Then you remember that the Fellowship split, and Merry and Pippin were kidnapped, but they escaped and met the Ents."  
  
"Met the Ents? But were they in the Shire?"  
  
"No, not at all!" Freddy replied, growing excited.  
  
"I never heard of any Entwives in the story," Ruby said.  
  
"Neither have I. That means…" Freddy mused.  
  
"That means there are more Ents somewhere else!" Ruby concluded for him.  
  
"I wonder why they've kept themselves hidden for so long," Freddy wondered aloud.  
  
"I suppose you're about to find out," Ruby said, gesturing over his shoulder. He turned and saw Twinbough striding towards him.  
  
"Have you eaten your fill?" she asked genuinely.  
  
"If I ate my fill I'd be here two days," Freddy replied.  
  
"Wandlimb is ready to speak with you, if you are ready. You may stay and continue to eat afterwards, if you wish. Follow me," she beckoned, and turned towards the willows once more, stepping carefully lest she tread accidentally on the hobbits. Freddy rose to his feet and followed, and Ruby gathered Squash in her arms, following Freddy. As they stepped through the archway, the dangling leaves of the weeping willows brushed against their foreheads. Twinbough paused at the entrance and gestured for them to continue on without her.  
  
The grass was cool as they entered the ent-house. There was no roof but the natural cover of trees, but the area seemed more enclosed and private than the clearing had been. There, in the center of the house, surrounded by several slender silver birches was a tall yew, and the underside of its leaves glinted silver. She was standing, eyes closed, arms raised above her head, and when the hobbits entered quietly, she opened her eyes and smiled at them.  
  
"Are you the Queen?" Ruby asked suddenly. There was a gentle chuckle free of any mockery.  
  
"Ents do not recognize Queen and King," she said simply. "No, I am not a queen; I was an Entwife, as any other Entwife, no better and no worse. I will stand, if you do not mind, but will you sit so I may have a better look at you?"  
  
Freddy and Ruby nodded dumbly, they were so stricken with her beauty. If it could be managed, her cheeks were alive with health and color, and her eyes were wise beyond compare. Her voice was kind and friendly, and there was a grace about her and in her movements. Smoothly, she lifted them from their feet and set them onto a sturdy branch. Her large brown eyes scanned them slowly.  
  
"Hmm, I have not seen hobbits for a long while. Not many have endeavored to enter the Old Forest, no; they know the evils of it. But it has been a long time since we have had any visitors."  
  
"Why do you say you 'were' an Entwife? Do you no longer call yourselves Entwives? Are there Ent-husbands? Where are they?" Freddy blurted.  
  
She chuckled musically. "As hasty as I remember, you hobbits are. But I can only answer one question at once. I will answer your question, and then you may answer one of mine." She paused, as if drawing from an ancient memory, and began, "Long ago, before Sauron the Dark Lord came into power, we lived together; the Ents, Entmaidens, Entwives, and Entings," here she paused and smiled wistfully. "It is long since we had any Entings. The Ents, the males, cared to wander and speak to the trees and worried not for the future, only for the present, but we, the Entwives understood that order and routine were necessary and sought it well. Thus we began gardening, and using our link with nature to make the ground obey us, to respond to our pruning, tending, and care by giving us fruit and flowers and such things that the ground, the sun, and the water provide. The Ents wandered, and cared not for gardening, and did not love it as we did, so the Entwives moved to more fertile land, and the Ents did not follow, but we crossed the river and visited them often. We moved once again and the Ents did not follow. We saw less of each other and then nothing. A being of power, hatred and malice, with no love for the land, came to our gardens, the gardens that we had nourished and tended." Her eyes filled with something of anger, and she stared vacantly as she recalled the history. "Sauron destroyed our gardens, and many Entwives. He brought orcs and trolls and they burnt the gardens and cleaved the trees with axes and set many Entwives and Entings ablaze. But a small group of Entwives remained, and fled the gardens, westward, seeking only to find land to replace that which we had lost. And we did not remember the Ents.  
  
We came to the Shire, a beautiful land of rolling hills, forests, and rivers, and a land untouched by the dark power of Sauron. A land of hobbits," and she paused and smiled, and the twinkle returned to her eyes. "We discovered the Old Forest, and the trees that resided there. They are malicious and mischievous and enjoy taunting and teasing to the brink of madness and death, and even beyond. But, we took residence in the very heart of the Old Forest, and here we remain, protected yet secluded, and we ever mourn the loss of our gardens and the Ents." She grew silent, and they realized she was done.  
  
"The loss of the Ents?" Freddy asked.  
  
"They were destroyed ere we departed, and even now our numbers grow smaller with no Entings, no 'children'."  
  
Freddy nearly leaped from his perch in the branch, and he all but shook with excitement.  
  
"No, well, I think they're still alive!" he cried.  
  
Wandlimb turned to gaze at him steadily, and hope flickered in her eyes.  
  
"We often believe the same," she said sadly.  
  
And Freddy laughed aloud. "Oh, I didn't mean any disrespect, but, well, near seventy years now it has been since the Fellowship set out to destroy Sauron's ring. Two of the hobbits –Merry and Pippin, that is –met up with old Treebeard himself. Though where, I cannot say that I remember. Much help that is, but the Ents are still alive!"  
  
"Treebeard, you say?" There was a green flicker in her eyes. "This is news indeed, very good news. Thank you, Freddy. Will you answer one of my questions?"  
  
"I'll honor my part of the agreement," Freddy answered.  
  
"Why were you in the Old Forest?"  
  
Freddy shifted uneasily. "You see, I found a rock in the forest, when I was collecting rocks, and, well, it had the word "ents" on it, and I discovered that it was a map, and we found a, well, a slain hobbit in the forest with a map on him, and we followed it, and then your friend –the Entwife—Twinbough found us and brought us here."  
  
Wandlimb nodded sedately. "Would I have known any hobbit wandered the Old Forest alone, I would do all in my power to aid him. The forest is wicked, very wicked, but that is what has kept us safe for so long during Sauron's reign. But now that he has fallen, it may be safe to venture out once more. A new age has begun, one that may prove to reconcile the Ents and Entwives once more."  
  
"Now that you know they're alive, will you find them again?" Ruby asked.  
  
"We would not even know where to begin," Wandlimb said sadly.  
  
"I know just who to ask, if you'll let me help," Freddy said suddenly. He had a desire to help the Ents and Entwives become reunited once more, and an idea was growing in his mind.  
  
"Your assistance will be appreciated, but it has been many years. Who will you ask?" Wandlimb asked him.  
  
"Why, Merry and Pippin, of course!" Freddy returned. 


End file.
